IPL 2026: CCTV sabotage at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium before RCB vs GT match on April 24 traced to vendor dispute. Police say issue fixed in 2 hours, no impact on crowd control or security.
What could have triggered alarm just hours before a packed IPL 2026 fixture at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium has now been traced to an internal dispute within a private vendor network, with Bengaluru Police making it clear: there was no impact on match security or crowd control.
FIR Filed After Cameras Go Offline
An FIR has been registered against two individuals — Manjunath (37) and Abdul Kalam (19) — for allegedly tampering with the stadium’s CCTV system on April 24, the day Royal Challengers Bengaluru faced Gujarat Titans.
According to the complaint filed by Aditya Bhat of Staqu Technologies Pvt Ltd, more than 240 cameras went offline on the morning of the match after critical infrastructure, including Network Video Recorder (NVR) systems and optical fibre lines, was damaged.
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Police say the accused, linked to subcontractor IVS Digital Solutions, entered restricted areas using a deactivated access card, accessed the CCTV room, and later cut fibre connections near a junction box in the parking area.
Commissioner’s Office: ‘Incident Linked to Pending Payments’
In its official press note, the Office of the Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City, placed the spotlight squarely on a financial dispute behind the act.
“It was revealed that the CCTV installation work had been subcontracted to IVS Digital Solutions by STAQU. Due to pending payment of bills, the incident occurred.”
The statement further added: “During the preliminary investigation, it has come to light that two contract workers of IVS Digital Solutions had intentionally cut the CCTV camera wires.”
The server room, police clarified, was under the custody of the subcontractor, and the act was carried out by its own workers.
Fixed Before Gates Opened
Despite the scale of the outage, officials said the issue was resolved well in time.
“The issue was promptly attended and rectified before the opening of the stadium gates. As a result, there was no disruption in crowd management or any lapse in security.”
A senior officer added that the damage was detected around 11:30 am and rectified quickly, ensuring that match-day operations continued without disruption.
“Both accused have been identified, and further action will be taken soon. All CCTVs were restored within an hour, and the disruption did not impact match proceedings.”
‘No Bearing on Match Management’
Speaking to Asianet Newsable English, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Division) Akshay Hakay dismissed suggestions that the incident compromised safety.
“The incident had no bearing on match management or crowd control. The issue was resolved well before the gates were opened.”
The DCP reiterated that the episode was an internal fallout within the vendor ecosystem rather than a policing failure.
He further emphasised that this was not a case of external intrusion, but an act carried out by insiders linked to the subcontractor.
“Server room comes under the purview of the event organiser and their vendor and is manned and managed by them. We have one representative who is there to check live inputs from the ground. It is their own employees who have gone and cut the wires. How is it then the police’s fault?”
“The match was conducted successfully without any untoward incidents. Further investigation in this case is in progress.”
A Close Call That Was Contained
While the visuals of hundreds of cameras going dark may raise eyebrows, the police narrative is firm — systems were restored before fans arrived, on-ground deployment remained intact, and the larger security grid was never compromised.
For now, the focus shifts to accountability within the vendor chain, as investigators continue to piece together the exact sequence of events behind the sabotage.
